Friday Open Thread

Posted by Miranda on March 19th, 2010

You made it! Its Friday! Wooo-hooooo!!

Our iconic series today is about sports…moments in sports history that are larger than the sport itself.

1968 Olympics – John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s Black Power Salute

Doug Williams – First Black QB to start in a Super Bowl game, MVP – graduate of Grambling State University

Wilt Chamberlain – 100 points game

Hammerin’ Hank Aaron – #715

Front row: Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Kareem Abdul Jabar
Back row: Carl Stokes, Walter Beach, Bobby Mitchell, Sid Williams, Curtis McClinton, Willie Davis, Jim Shorter, and John Wooten.

This photograph was taken at a press conference given on June 4, 1967. The top African American athletes of that time, gathered together as a show of unity for Muhammad Ali, as he publicly proclaimed his reasons for rejecting the Vietnam War draft.

Categories: Books, Dance, Economy, Education, Empowerment, Encouragement, Engagement-Debate, Enlightenment, Films, Health, Media, Music, Old School, Open Threads, Our Communities, Politics, Popular Culture, Sports, TV, Theatre

Tags: 1968 Olympics, Doug Williams, Hank Aaron, HISTORY, HOPE, Muhammed Ali, Open Thread, Record Holders, Sports, The Olympics, Urban America, Wilt Chamberlain

itgurl_29

The next White House State Dinner will be on may 19, honoring Mexico. I guess they really are going for immigration reform next.

How much y'all wanna bet George Lopez is gonna be there? LOL
Town

OH NOEZ, BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA IS INVITING THOSE ILLEGALS INTO THE WHITE HOUSE, THIS IS TERRIBLE, IT'S THE WHITE HOUSE NOT THE CASA BLANCA NOT THE CASA CAFE, THIS IS TERRIBLE, OBAMA MUST BE STOPPED, LEARN ENGLISH LEARN ENGLISH ARGHHHH!! [/LOUDOBBS]
Texas_Girl_in_LA

Of course itgurl_29!

George Lopez shows the President love every night on his show. Sometimes I think he reads this blog and JJP, because some of the stuff he talks about comes straight from the threads.
rikyrah

maybe not EVERY night...but, 3 out of 4 nights..Yes...
LOL
Texas_Girl_in_LA

Filled out my Census last night

Checked the box: Black, African American or Negro

Negro...really?

Oh well..
Sepia

Found this in the comments section @ Balloon Juice:

beltane

@zzyzx: Slinkerwink and nyceve no longer work for FDL. They are now employed by another progressive advocacy group affiliated with Darcy Burnor.

The Jane stands alone.
Miranda

'Lawyer' for US missionaries in Haiti is arrested

The Associated Press
Friday, March 19, 2010; 12:53 PM

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Dominican police have arrested a fugitive who acted as the lawyer for U.S. missionaries accused of kidnapping 33 Haitian children.

Jorge Puello initially served as the group's legal adviser and spokesman but authorities later said he was wanted for trafficking women and children in the U.S. and El Salvador.

The National Drug Control Agency says the 32-year-old Puello was arrested in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant late Thursday in the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo.

Soledad Puello is his mother. She told The Associated Press that she and others had negotiated with Salvadoran prosecutors for Puello to turn himself in.

Puello was born in New York but has both U.S. and Dominican citizenship.
Sepia

Lynch: Obama Told Me He Might Try To Get Public Option Next Year
Rachel Slajda | March 19, 2010, 2:19PM

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), who is sticking to his "no" vote on health care, said President Obama told him in a meeting yesterday that he might go for the public option next year.

In an interview with Mother Jones, Lynch said Obama told him he can't put progressive provisions, like a public option, into health care reform this year. But next year may be a different story.

"He said we can't do it this year, but next year he'd be willing to consider inserting a public option," Lynch said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from TPMDC.

Lynch said he's voting against the bill because there's no public option, there's an excise tax on Cadillac plans and there's no repeal of anti-trust exemptions for insurers. He voted for the November bill.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/lync...
Town

Ok.............so Obama tells him vote for the bill and then we can add the public option after the plan is in place and he says "Nope" because the plan doesn't have the public option. Right. Sure.
PBomb

Well, he's lying about that being the reason he's not voting for the bill.

Via Balloon-Juice, from a frequent commenter who got the scoop on him, apparently he's anti-choice. That's why he's voting no. Plus he's been paid like 200k in money from the insurance industry.

Asshat.
Miranda

POLL: Israelis 'Overwhelmingly' Favor Obama, Mixed On Netanyahu

(AP) JERUSALEM - A poll released Friday shows that Israelis overwhelmingly have a favorable impression of President Barack Obama, despite a grave diplomatic feud with the U.S. over east Jerusalem construction.

Between a total of three polls released Friday, Israelis sent mixed signals about their own leader. Thirty-six percent of those questioned for one poll thought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was best suited to lead Israel, versus 26 percent for his closest challenger, opposition leader Tzipi Livni. But another poll showed Livni's Kadima Party would overtake Netanyahu's Likud by a wider margin if elections were held today.

All three polls showed a majority of Israelis supported continued construction in Jerusalem's disputed eastern sector, the issue at the heart of the U.S.-Israeli row. Support ranged from 48 percent in one poll to 70 percent in another.

Some Israelis have misgivings about Obama, who is cooler to Israel than his immediate predecessors and has made a big effort to reach out to the Muslim world.

But a Dialog survey of 499 people on Wednesday and Thursday showed that seven out of 10 Israelis share a favorable view. The poll had a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.

Israel's plan to build 1,600 apartments in east Jerusalem, announced during Vice President Joe Biden's visit here last week, caused one of the most serious rifts between the two countries in decades.
PBomb

See this just proves that Obama is anti-semitic!!!

***rolls eyes to the back of my head***
Miranda

AMA, AARP urge passage of health reformExplore related topics
Insurance Story

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The American Medical Association and AARP, the organization for people 50 and older, announced their support Friday for the health-care overhaul bill on which Congress is expected to vote Sunday. "This legislation represents an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of tens of millions of Americans, an opportunity we are not likely to see again for at least a decade if this bill fails to pass," AMA President J. James Rohack told reporters during a conference call. He called the bill "imperfect" but said it will expand coverage and keep health-care decisions in the hands of doctors and patients. AARP Board Chair Bonnie M. Cramer said the overhaul would strengthen Medicare. "It closes the dreaded Medicare Part D 'doughnut hole,' a gap in prescription drug coverage that is life-threatening for many," Cramer said in a prepared statement. "The package stops insurance companies from pricing people out of coverage because they have an existing health problem or arbitrarily limiting the amount of care someone can receive."
Miranda

11:55 AM ET: Obama's pitch -- special interests vs. the American public. In a rousing speech before a crowd at a northern Virginia university on Friday, President Obama sent a forceful message to wavering lawmakers.

"I don't know how passing health care will play politically, but i know its right," Obama said.

Then, addressing the cheering crowd at George Mason University, he asked for their help:

"If you believe that its right, then you've got to help me finish this fight," asking them to call lawmakers and apply some pressure of their own.

"We are going to get this done, we are going to make history, we are going to fix health care in America with your help," Obama said as he ended his remarks.
Miranda

Andrea Mitchell sucks...why does she have a show? Hell, why does she have a microphone at all?
Admiral_Komack

She's.
Mrs.
Alan.
Greenspan.
Sepia

'Sup WSY Fam! It's a BEAUTIFUL day, today! :-)

Ahh! When Black athletes actually stood up for something besides endorsement deals. Good times...good times.

I've updated the "WSY Action Alert: Final March To Reform" post with a list of 20 Dems whose votes are still in play. Check it out!
aleth

Hello All

Funny Obama just told the media they are like ESPN sports center just keeping score not wanting to go through the details of the bill to see how it will help you.
Admiral_Komack

MSNBC:

(within last 30 minutes)

Anchorperson talking to Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), saying he was "on the fence" concerning the health care bill.

The Representative calmly told the anchorperson that he was FOR the bill.

FUCK THE MEDIA!
Sepia

Can't truss it!
Miranda

Rep. Paul Broun: The ramifications of health reform will be like ‘the Great War of Yankee Aggression.’
As the vote on health care approaches, Republican lawmakers are attacking the legislation with increasingly bizarre and hateful comments. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), a far right lawmaker who has led much of the opposition to health reform, took to the floor of the House of Representatives last night to deliver a diatribe against health reform. Previously, Broun had compared President Obama to a dictator who would impose martial law. But last night, Broun out-performed his reactionary colleagues and even his own track record of absurdity. Bellowing into the microphone, Broun said that “if ObamaCare passes,” a “free insurance card” (which is not in the bill) will be “as worthless as a Confederate dollar after the “Great War of Yankee Aggression“:

BROUN: If ObamaCare passes, that free insurance card that’s in people’s pockets is gonna be as worthless as a Confederate dollar after the War Between The States — the Great War of Yankee Aggression.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/03/19/yankee-aggr...
Sepia

Imma need for Broun and his fellow CAC peeps to drink some prune juice and let that shyte go.
aleth

Is this dude serious, they really ain't never got over the civil war?

What a waste of a human being, how do these folks get elected?
Town

And then the women will want to vote and the Negroes will want Civil Rights! Oh Noez!!!
Admiral_Komack

Lawdy, Lawdy!
What are we gwine do?
Miranda

Lying Liars

http://www.dailykos.com/tv/w/002612/
Miranda

Tiger sure did deal with some skanky messy heifers....ugh....but in light of the porn star releasing MORE of Tiger's sexting (coincidentally after he announces he's playing at the Masters)...here's a clip Atlantasistah did a few months ago on Tiger Woods y'all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MupprxiMFjk
rikyrah

Mar
Loved or Feared?

by mistermix

In yesterday’s open thread headlined by Pelosi’s picture, there were a few comments about her lack of popularity amongst non-political types. I’ve had the same experience as those commenters: a couple of friends who vote Democratic, but don’t care much about politics, really dislike Nancy Pelosi.

If you look at past Speakers, this isn’t really surprising. The ones who made a lot of headlines, like Tip O’Neill and Newt Gingrich, weren’t that great. Tip was in a similar position as Pelosi (Democrats controlled both Houses and the Presidency), but Democrats dropped the ball on his watch. With all the press he gets, it’s easy to forget that Newt was deposed by his own party after 4 years.

Unlike Tip and Newt, the man widely considered to be the best Speaker in history, Sam Rayburn, “preferred working quietly in the background to being in the public spotlight.” His successor, John McCormack, shepherded landmark civil rights legislation, as well as Medicare, through the House, yet LBJ gets all the credit for those accomplishments. And let’s not forget Carl Albert, because everyone else has.

Pelosi is unpopular because the talents needed to be a good speaker just don’t sell soap. She’s ferociously on-message, which makes her public statements look wooden and over-rehearsed. The tale of her upbringing as daughter of a machine mayor is short on human interest, but long on the arm-twisting and favor-trading a good Speaker needs to master.

In short: she’s intense, focused, ruthless and competent. Those qualities won’t get her a movie of the week or a permanent spot on Meet the Press, but they might just get the most important piece of legislation in the last 40 years through the House.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/03/19/loved-o...
Miranda

100 Accomplishments of President Barack Obama

After that disastrous hatchet job of an interview Bret Baier did with the president last night, I had to quell my urge to go upside Baier's head with a 2 X 4 and slowly work my way back to a more positive state of mind.
May Rupert Murdoch be interrogated by a real-life Jack Bauer wielding a blowtorch who doesn't believe Murdoch's telling the truth.

But back to positive:

Below is a list of 100 Accomplishments of President Barack Obama as posted via Status Updates on the “Accomplishments of President Barack Obama” Facebook Page. To be alerted of further accomplishments, please become a fan (http://www.facebook.com/obamaaccomplishments)!
http://simplifythepositive.blogspot.com/2010/03...